There’s no rest for the wicked for Hugh Foley who legged it straight to the airport in Riga five minutes after signing his card for a share of fourth place at the European Amateur Championship as he prepares for Final Open Championship Qualifying on Tuesday.
Foley will tee it up in Royal Porthcawl as he looks to join his fellow amateur Alex Maguire at Royal Liverpool later this month and he heads to South Wales in good form after a final round of 70 saw him finish three shots behind eventual winner Jose Ballester Barrio of Spain at Parnu Bay Golf Links.
“The week was great, I really loved the course and the venue,” said Foley who was -18. “Great practice facilities and a really great golf course probably a few hundred yards shorter than what we are used to and the scores reflected that. There was a mix of everything this week, no wind, lots of rain and soft conditions with not too fast greens and the course was really geared up for scoring which we aren’t used to playing links golf. We usually have tough conditions all the time.
“My two best results are on opposite golf courses, one at Lytham which was really tough where level par is a good score and then this week where you had to go under par. The putter was the main reason for that had about 26 or 27 putts everyday and my irons and wedges were good so really happy with that.
“Gave myself half a chance with a few to play which is always fun to be in contention a little bit or close to it so really enjoyed the week.”
The Royal Dublin golfer was omitted from Ireland’s six-man European Team Championship side as were fellow Walker Cup squad members Rob Moran and Peter O’Keeffe. It’s not the first time he has been left out of an Irish panel this year – Euro Nations – but he insists his good golf will shine through for the rest of the summer with Walker Cup on the horizon.
“They picked the team during round one, I don’t know if that was a deadline because it obviously wasn’t ideal timing but it didn’t bother me too much and kicked me into gear. I knew I had good golf in me with the Amateur at Hillside, the cut was really low so missing it wasn’t that big a deal, the golf was good and unfortunately I wasn’t picked for the six man team when my golf felt good enough.
“Great to have a good week and take some form going into July.”
Meanwhile in Estonia, Kilkenny’s Mark Power took 13th on fifteen-under while Foley’s club mate Max Kennedy shared 50th on eight-under.
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